The Economist Wall Calendar has been a big hit thus far. I got a slew of orders on Christmas and Boxing day. I can only guess that folks we hoping to get one for Christmas and were disappointed when Santa didn’t deliver!

Below you can see one of my favorite spreads from the new 2012 Calendar: December.

It’s not too late to put in your order for this year’s edition ( you can do it here). Order today and I will get them sent off to you ASAP!

Jerry and I in 1991

A few days ago, the great cartoonist, writer, colleague and friend Jerry Robinson passed away.

There have been glowing obituaries in the New York Times and elsewhere celebrating his virtues.

He had many.

He is best known by cartoon enthusiasts as an early contributor (as a teenager) to the Batman comics, most notably for his role in creating”The Joker”.

Others know Jerry for his tireless campaigning on behalf of the early creators of the Superman comics, Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster who had sold their rights to the character in 1930 for $130. Largely thanks to Jerry

A long legal fight resulted in a settlement with Warner Communications, DC Comics’ corporate parent, providing the pair with annual payments for the rest of their lives and provisions for their heirs.

I knew Jerry in a different way.

I knew him as an energetic and outgoing friend bristling with compassion, curiosity and  generosity. He was a great mentor to me in my early career and I will be forever grateful for the time and advice he shared.

I feel incredibly lucky that Jerry’s and my paths crossed…and that we were able to amble alongside each other for so many years.

I will be giving a lecture Tuesday, November 8, 7:30PM at McDaniel college, Westminster, MD on the subject of Political cartoons. I hope to see you there!

Here’s a recent piece of art I created for a non-profit Publish What You Pay based out of Norway. This is a cover for a report advocating transparency in international business transactions specifically in the extractive industries (oil/mineral companies). A worthy subject.

On April 1 I will have the privilege of talking about humor ( this is not an April Fool’s joke). The Palo Alto institute is presenting ” Secrets to a Funnier You” as part of their T3 series of talks symposia and lectures.

Here’s a blurb from the website:

Experience first-hand the benefits of laughter from various perspectives: from political cartoons to interactive improvisation to hilarity in the brain.

Some great speakers, Dr. Peter McGraw, Chris Sams, John Morreall and Emily Levine will be present. I hope to see you there.

It has just been announced that I will be the keynote speaker at Maryland Arts Day in Annapolis Wednesday February 9, 2011. Click here for more details.

If you are in the Bay area come by the Cartoon Art Museum and visit my exhibition of cartoons and covers from The Economist. I will be at the Museum November 12, 7-9PM and November 13 10:30AM- Noon to meet and greet visitors. I hope to see you there!

I am pleased to announce an upcoming exhibition of my work at the fabulous Cartoon Art Museum of San Francisco. The show titled ” Drawn from The Economist; the editorial art of Kal” will run from November 6, 2010 to March 13, 2011 with an opening reception November 12 7-9PM. The exhibition features over 40 of my favorites cartoons and covers from my 32 years with The Economist. I hope to see you there!

I will be the featured speaker at the 21st annual GBTC TechNite on Oct. 7 at Rams Head Live! in Baltimore. With over 800 attendees TechNite is the Greater Baltimore Region’s premiere night out to celebrate the business and technology community.

You can find more info HERE

As promised, I am posting some photos from my recent exhibition at the annual SICAF (Seoul International Comics and Animation Festival). SICAF gets tens of thousands of visitors to its 5 day event each July. I was invited to be a special guest artist at this year’s festival. Unfortunately, I was unable to attend this year’s gathering however I was delighted to receive some pictures of my exhibition space.

As you can see the organizers were quite imaginative in the way they chose to display my cartoons and animation. I hope I have the honor of visiting SICAF some time in the near future.